Munshi Premchand

Premchand brought realism to Hindi literature. Premchand wrote on the
realistic issues of the day-communalism, corruption, zamindari, debt, poverty,
colonialism etc. He avoided the use of highly Sanskritized Hindi and instead
used the dialect of the common people.

Premchand popularly known as Munshi Premchand was one of the greatest literary
figures of modern Hindi literature. His stories vividly portrayed the social
scenario of those times.

Premchand's real name was Dhanpat Rai Srivastava. He was born on July 31, 1880
in Lamahi near Varanasi where his father Munshi Azaayab Lal was a clerk in the
post office. Premchand lost his mother when he was just seven years old. His
father married again. Premchand was very close to his elder sister. His early
education was in a madarasa under a Maulavi, where he learnt Urdu. When he was
studying in the ninth class he was married, much against his wishes. He was only
fifteen years old at that time.

Premchand lost his father when he was sixteen years old. Premchand was left
responsible for his stepmother and stepsiblings. He earned five rupees a month
tutoring a lawyer's child. Premchand passed his matriculation exam with great
effort and took up a teaching position, with a monthly salary of eighteen
rupees. While working, he studied privately and passed his Intermediate and B.
A. examinations. Later, Premchand worked as the deputy sub-inspector of schools
in what was then the United Provinces.

In 1910, he was hauled up by the District Magistrate in Jamirpur for his
anthology of short stories Soz-e-Watan (Dirge of the Nation), which was labelled
seditious. His book Soz-e-Watan was banned by the then British government, which
burnt all of the copies. Initially Premchand wrote in Urdu under the name of
Nawabrai. However, when his novel Soz-e-Watan was confiscated by the British, he
started writing under the pseudonym Premchand.

Premchand was a great social reformer; he married a child widow named Shivarani
Devi. She wrote a book on him, Premchand Gharmein after his death. In 1921 he
answered Gandhiji's call and resigned from his job. He worked to generate
patriotism and nationalistic sentiments in the general populace. When the editor
of the journal Maryaada was jailed in the freedom movement, Premchand worked
for a time as the editor of that journal. Afterward, he worked as the principal
in a school in the Kashi Vidyapeeth.

The main characteristic of Premchand's writings is his interesting storytelling
and use of simple language. His novels describe the problems of rural and urban
India. He avoided the use of highly Sanskritized Hindi and instead used the
dialect of the common people. Premchand wrote on the realistic issues of the day
-communalism, corruption, zamindari, debt, poverty, colonialism etc.

Premchand's writings have been translated not only into all Indian languages,
but also Russian, Chinese, and many other foreign languages. He died on October
8, 1936.